Mage Quest

a grave to my charges against you.”

King Warin seemed momentarily caught off balance. “I know nothing of a desecration of a grave,” he said with what appeared to be sincerity. But neither Dominic nor I were ready to believe him.

“So you stole the ring you had good reason to suspect Arnulf had sent with us,” I continued. “How long did it take you to realize that the ring you gave for the horse, which you hoped would carry you safely to the Wadi and away again, was the same ring that the mage wanted in order to uncover the Wadi’s secrets?”

Except that it wasn’t. Now I was confusing myself. I caught an amused look from the mage.

King Warin pulled his lips back from his teeth in what might have been meant for a smile. “I told you I expected you sooner or later.”

“We’re here now,” I said, not daring to lose whatever momentum I had. “We’ll let you watch while we uncover the old secrets you hoped to obtain by deviousness and evil.”

I rubbed the onyx with my thumb and wondered how many layers of magical reality there might still be before us. I again spoke the words of the Hidden Language, heedless of whatever permanent damage I might be doing. If this valley was indeed an ancient volcano, leading down into the heart of the earth, maybe it had an inherent, well-grounded stability, which was why the Ifrit could apparently manipulate reality here so easily. Either that, or he and I both were disturbing the magma miles below, and molten rock was even now moving up toward us.

As the air’s shimmering resolved itself again, I thought I saw a group of people in the distance, from the corner of my eyes. But fifty yards ahead of us, and much more intriguing, something glittered in the sand of the rift.

I reached it first by flying, snatching it up before King Warin’s hands could seize it. It was a bronze bottle made in the shape of a cucumber.

I hefted it cautiously. It felt empty. The mouth was closed with a lead stopper, but the stopper was loose. When I opened the bottle and shook, nothing came out.

Kaz-alrhun held out a hand, and I gave it to him. If this was the secret of the Wadi Harhammi, I was not impressed.

But the mage lifted his eyebrows steeply. “This is a bottle wherein an Ifrit was imprisoned, Daimbert,” he said. “Look at the seal on the stopper.”

A seal had indeed been impressed in the lead, but I shook my head, not able to identify it.

“Do you not recognize the graven signet of Solomon, son of David?”

Dominic gave a low whistle.

“This is what Prince Vlad threatened me with,” I said. “He warned me I’d find something dangerous in the Wadi, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was unless I promised to return to his principality. It was an imprisoned Ifrit.”

“Too late now to worry about releasing him accidentally,” said Dominic.

“Someone did release him,” I said slowly. “In fact, although the Ifrit’s story seems a little unclear, he may have been released two separate times. He said at least one of the people who released him was a mage. What mage has already been here, and what has he found?” I tried glaring at Kaz-alrhun, but he just smiled.

“This is all that is here,” said King Warin darkly. “The secret of the Wadi was an imprisoned Ifrit, from whom your friend Arnulf hoped to obtain wishes.”

Dominic and I looked at each other in dismay. But I recovered quickly. “No, because the rumors concerning Yurt are much more recent than five years old, and we know the Ifrit’s been out at least that long. So the Ifrit himself can’t be the whole secret.” I frowned at King Warin in an attempt to match his own icy stare. “Why are you trying to mislead us?”

I looked at him from under my eyebrows, thinking rapidly. He didn’t answer my question, but he didn’t need to. He was trying to mislead us because he still hoped to find the Wadi’s secret without us. But if King Warin had become trapped here in the valley, then he could not be behind all the strange events, and someone else, with powerful magic, was still at large and might arrive very soon.

I felt a sudden, completely irrational conviction that the mage who had freed the Ifrit, five years or more before, was not an eastern mage at all but a western wizard, King Warin’s former royal wizard Elerius.

Warin interrupted my thoughts by turning his eyes on me and giving a completely unconvincing smile. These were real eyes, not the pebbles through which Prince Vlad could see in darkness, but they still were hard as stone. I tried to reassure myself that he knew no magic himself-unless he was working with a demon, whose supernatural powers could mask his abilities from someone like me who used only natural magic.

“Well, perhaps you’re right after all, Wizard,” he said. “I know what is in the Wadi, and you do not. You will be able to deal with its dangers much more easily if you know what to expect. I’ll be happy to tell you.”

I broke my glance away from his. While he looked at me it felt as though we were linked by a bar of cold iron. “And in return?”

“You’ll give it to me.”

I managed a barking laugh. “I don’t like your bargain. It’s a good bargain only for you. I’m the only person here with functioning magical abilities.” If he had had access to supernatural magic, I told myself, he wouldn’t need me. But I surreptitiously checked my knowledge of the Hidden Language to make sure it hadn’t evaporated in the last few minutes-so far, so good. “Of course it’s always better to be forewarned, but I’m not afraid.”

King Warin actually believed this patent lie. “Perhaps I misspoke. We shall share, although in light of my superior position I should have ultimate control …” He looked thoughtful for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision.

“You’ll like this proposal, Wizard. It’s been a year since Elerius left, and that school of yours hasn’t been able to come up with anyone competent. How would you like to become my new Royal Wizard?”

I must have stared at him unbelievingly, because he made another of his unconvincing attempts at a smile. “Elerius knew you at the school and always spoke very approvingly of your abilities.”

I ignored this highly unlikely statement. “I’m Royal Wizard of Yurt.”

I caught a glimpse of Kaz-alrhun rolling his black eyes at me, either in amusement at a western wizard feeling he needed an employer, or else in warning. At the same time, Dominic cleared his throat at my shoulder.

“We would very much miss you, Wizard,” he said gravely. “But when we decided to hire a school-trained wizard we always knew there would be the possibility he would want to leave us for a bigger or wealthier kingdom. Warin’s kingdom will have opportunities for you Yurt could never offer.”

“You’re quite right,” said Warin in apparent good fellowship. “There is still wild magic in the mountains east of my royal castle, Wizard, and while most of the other lords in the kingdom keep their own magic-workers, all of them need the firm hand of a senior wizard over them. You’ll have the authority and respect you never had in Yurt. And you’ve seen my castle; I know Haimeric can offer you nothing so luxurious.”

“I’ve been very happy in Yurt.”

“And so you should.” His eyes glinted at me in the desert sun. “I’m sure it has served you well as a first post. Isn’t that what an ambitious young wizard does, take a first post at a small kingdom to carry him through until his abilities have matured and been demonstrated?”

Against my will, I found myself weighing the proposal seriously. I would never be able to explain to anyone at the school why I refused it. Elerius had gotten the post in Warin’s kingdom right out of school as a reward for his supremely good abilities. The three young wizards Warin had sent back to the City in disgrace had also doubtless been near the top of their classes. I on the other hand had at several points been in danger of not even graduating, and had developed whatever skills I now possessed through a remarkable number of errors. For me to step into Elerius’s former kingdom would be a tremendous honor. It was also, I hated to admit, exactly what I needed to overcome the ennui I had felt last winter.

For a second I tried to imagine myself constantly surrounded by liveried knights, who rose whenever I rose and arranged themselves around me whenever I was seated. I just couldn’t see it. Maybe I could substitute some of the emir’s dancing girls.

I could feel King Warin’s eyes on me, though I assiduously did not meet them. After all, what reason was there not to take the position Warin was offering? Only the fact that I loved Yurt, and did not want to be in the